Your Kitty
by Shnee
Summary: Kate Green. Only child and subject to constant scurtinising from her parents. Best friend to Lily Evans, and not accustomed to nicknames. However, someone's about to change that.
1. The Potter Manor

I slammed my trunk shut and heaved it off my bed. It seemed lighter than normal. I dragged it to the door of my room, before giving up and simply levitating it down the stairs. "Mum?" I peeked my head into the living room, where mum and dad were both sitting, as usual, in their armchairs by the fire, whilst reading.

"Yes dear?" Mum looked at me over the top of her glasses.

"I…I'm going now," I said, not quite sure if I should try hugging her or not.

"Ah right, well, owl us when you get to her house," mum told me, adjusting her glasses and allowing her eyes to sweep over my muggle attire, her lips thinning in disapproval at the rips and holes in my jeans.

"Right…" I was about to close the door, but jerked it open again, "See you at Christmas?" Mum nodded, but didn't take her eyes off her book. I nodded, knowing full well that neither mum nor dad could see me. I closed the door with a quiet click and heaved my trunk outside into the chilly August air. I closed the front door and pulled out my wand, giving it a wave and pocketing it again. Seconds later, the bright purple triple decked bus appeared at the end of the drive and a good friend of mine stepped out of the door.

"Evenin' Kate," Jim asked, his Scottish accent rippling through the cold air, as he tipped his hat slightly at me and moved to help me with my trunk. I smiled gratefully as he took it from my hands and heaved it onto the bus with ease. He gestured for me to get on and he followed me. The doors closed and with a great lurch, the bus snapped to attention and sped off, turning into nothing more than a blur of purple.

"Yur no goin' tae King's Cross the noo, are ye?" He asked me, keeping his balance easily at the front of the bus while watching me cling desperately to a handle bar on the roof.

"No, Jim," I forced a smile, as I felt my stomach squirm at a right turn. "You know the Potter Manor?"

Jim nodded, "Oh aye, aye that's that big yin just ootside London, intit?"

I nodded, "That's the one."

"Oi Lenny!" Jim shouted to the driver, who completely ignored Jim's existence. "The Potter Manor!"

Once Lenny had taken a right turn, which seemed to satisfy Jim, Jim turned back to me and nodded to my trunk, "Yur maw know yur stayin' it a wee lad's hoose?"

"Nope," I grinned despite myself. "Though even if she did, I hardly think she would disagree with me associating with such a family as the Potters."

"Aye yur right enough there," Jim nodded understandably. "Those Potter folk are nice folk though. I goat the lad oan 'ere a few weeks past in' he seemed an awrite lad. Yoo friends wae him?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Or…more his girlfriend than him."

"That wee yin goat a lassie aw'ridy?" Jim sniggered.

"Yeah, though I wouldn't exactly say already," I smiled. "He has been trying to catch her for near six years."

"Aye a ken that," Jim nodded. "So yoos aw havin' a wee git taegither?"

I shrugged and nodded; "I don't know about the others but any chance I have to get away from my parents, I take it."

"'Av never mit yur maw, is she nice?" Jim asked, not moving an inch as the bus lurched almost horizontally to the side, and then secured itself again.

I shrugged, "I'm not a big fan of her but I suppose, since she's my mum, I'll have to say yes."

"Aye most maws uur like that," Jim nodded. "Ma maw wis a right piece o' work."

The bus suddenly pulled to a stop and I was thrown forwards. Jim caught me and set me back on my feet, and then helped get my trunk off the platform.

"I still haven't got the hang of it yet," I laughed as I set foot on the firm ground outside.

"Aye takes a loat eh' gittin' used tae," Jim grinned. "A only goat the joab cus a could stone up straight."

I laughed, "Well thanks for your help, and no doubt I'll be seeing you again soon."

"Aye nice seein' ye again Kate, an tell aw that lot that a wis askin' aftur them!" Jim waved as I hauled my trunk out of the way of the bus. "An dinnae bother wi' them taxis! A met a driver the other week an a goat cheek enough fur me to slap tha wee rascal!"

"Don't worry, I'll only ride the Knight Bus!" I laughed and began pulling the trunk towards the pavement. "The conversation is much more interesting compared to taxis!"

Jim waved one last time, I blinked, and the Knight Bus whizzed out of sight. I sighed as I dragged the trunk up the path next to what I knew to be the Potter garden, and sat the trunk on its side as I rung the door bell. I turned to inspect the front of the house, though was disappointed as it had already turned dark and the house was already swallowed by blackness.

"We have a Kate!" I heard James shout from inside, his voice rather muffled. He threw open the door and grinned, "About time! We were getting worried!" He pulled me through the door by the arm and then heaved my trunk in. "Bit heavier than usual don't you think?" he asked, gesturing to my trunk. I simply shrugged.

"Katie!" I turned just as a squealing red head wrapped her arms around me in a hug. "You said you were coming at six! It's now half six! James be a gentleman and take her trunk up to her room will you?"

I pulled Lily off me and grinned at James as he rolled his eyes, though continued to take the trunk up the flight of stairs to the guess room, "Thanks James, and I couldn't find half my stuff so packing took me longer than I thought it would."

"I told you didn't I?" Lily laughed and linked arms with me, ushering me down the main hallway to the kitchen, where I found Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black all sitting at the worktop eating ice cream. "I told you to get everything sorted out and ready in the morning, then you would have no panic before you left."

I shrugged, "You know me, I just have to do the opposite of what you say."

Lily grinned. "Well boys!" she turned to the three boys, who all turned to look at us, all with ice cream dripping from their mouths. They looked at Lily questionably and Lily frowned, "Say hello."

They all cheered a hello through their mouthfuls of ice cream and I smiled a hello in reply. Lily sighed and sat me down at the main table, "They've been like this since I got here. You have no idea how hard it is to survive in a house with no female company besides Mrs Potter, and she's out half the time with Mr Potter on Auror duties."

I smiled, "Well I'm here now so I'll try my best to be female."

"Yes, just you do that," Lily sniggered. James appeared at the kitchen door and sat himself down next to Lily, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing her on the cheek. I smiled at them, it was about time Lily got off her high horse and dated James. It seems she thought that too, as she rested her head on his shoulder and smiled up at me.

"I didn't come all this way to become a third wheel though," I smiled playfully. "So James you'll have to give Lily up for at least 50 of the time."

James pouted, but Lily grinned, "I think Kate is right, I need some female company otherwise I'm going to find myself eating ice cream with my fingers like that lot." She gestured with her thumb to the three boys who were just finishing the ice cream. I grinned.

Sirius wiped his ice-creamed face with his sleeve, making me raise an eyebrow, and leaned against the wall next to me. "Not seen you in a while," he smiled at me.

"Ditto," I smiled back.

"How was the ride over?" Remus asked as he took the seat next to me.

I shrugged, "Same as every other year. Jim was asking after all of you."

"Who's Jim?" Lily asked.

"The conductor of the Knight Bus," James told her, flicking his messy black hair out of his hazel eyes.

"I'm bored…" Sirius sighed and banged his head against the wall.

"Come on, Kate, I'll help you get unpacked and show you around," Lily got to her feet and led me out the room. "It took me at least a week to find my way around here."

I laughed, "That big a place, eh?"

Lily smiled, "No have no idea."

Finding that the summer weather was not quite gone yet, we spent most of the last week of summer by James' swimming pool, which, apparently, he barely used as a result of the predictable English weather.

Lily and I amused ourselves by sitting on the sun chairs by the pool, just catching up, and every now and then watching as one of the boys dive-bombed into the pool. "So has James been a good boy and not abandoned you for the boys?" I smiled at Lily as I sipped on my can of Coke.

Lily turned slightly pink and shook his head, "As hard as it is to admit, I was wrong about him." I grinned. "He's been nothing but a gentleman since I got here and has always picked me over the boys, that is, when he isn't being a true host and involving me in everything they do."

I grinned, "Looks like Lily's picked a winner…"

Lily swatted my arm, though she continued smiling, this time with a blush on her cheeks. "He really is…well…erm…"

"…Incredible? Droolable? Absolutely jumping-on-able?" I sniggered.

Lily sighed pathetically, "…Amazing…"

I laughed, "Lily's all grown up!"

"And what a relief that is," Lily laughed.

"Oi!" We both turned to look at Sirius, who was leaning on the side of the pool, his wet black hair covering most of his eyes. "Get off your lazy arses and come swimming. James and I swear we wont duck you."

Lily rolled her eyes, "What do you say, dear?"

I smiled, "I think a nice swim will do us some good, dearest Lillian."

After stumbling into our bathing suits, Lily and I hurried out into the summer sunshine and raced each other to the pool. Lily slowed down just as she got to the edge, but I dived straight into the water with no hesitation. I was rather proud of myself as I broke the surface and spouted water out my mouth, as I had never before accomplished a perfect dive. Not that my dive was perfect, but it was better than doing a forward role and landing up side down at the bottom of the pool.

I hadn't really thought about whereabouts in the pool I was, and felt my face flush when I broke the surface and found myself practically on Sirius. I muttered an apology and swam to the edge of the pool, where I clambered out and ran, giggling, to Lily, who had acquired a warm towel to protect her against the breeze.

"Why don't you get in, Lily?" I laughed as I tugged at her towel.

She looked up at me nervously and her cheeks tinged pink. "He's never seen me in my bathing suit before…" She muttered.

I laughed again and pulled the towel out of her grip, "Come and get it, Lils!"

Lily laughed and tried to grasp the towel but I was too quick for her. I wrapped the towel around my waist and dive-bombed into the pool, laughing when I came up again and saw Lily gaping at me.

"Mrs Potter won't be pleased!" She hissed, worry etched across her face.

"James will your mum mind if I get this towel wet?" I asked James, who was busy trying to duck Sirius.

"Definitely not," James snorted. "Don't worry Lil, she won't mind if you wet a towel."

Lily blushed again and scurried to the side of the pool, "Just give me it so I can have it dry before she comes home."

I laughed and handed the dripping towel over. "You worry too much Lily," I told her, watching James in the corner of my eyes climb out the pool and sneak up behind her. Just as she was about to reply, however, James grabbed her round the waist and threw her in the pool.

He jumped in after her and collected the very wet and shocked Lily in his arms. "You look very nice in your bathing suit, Lily," he told her with a small smile. She smiled shyly back at him and thanked him by kissing him on the lips, which he took advantage of and practically kissed the face off of her.

"Pretty disturbing, but you've gotta love em'." I jumped and turned round to find Sirius floating behind me. He smiled at me, "So why haven't we heard from you since we finished school?"

I shrugged, "I've been busy."

"Well, you now have no choice but to hang around me at all times and satisfy my every need," Sirius told me with an evil grin.

I smiled, "It's very tempting, but I think I'm already someone else's slave."

"Ach the atrocity of it all!" Sirius grinned and nipped my arm as he swam off to talk to Remus.

I touched the spot on my arm where he had nipped me, and then looked back at the boy. This was going to be an interesting week.

**A/N-Hello dearies!! This is a new thingy and I've only got a wee idea of where it's going. I'm hoping it's going to be just as good as Define Love, but nothing I write can beat that story just now so don't worry, I won't be favouring this story over Define Love. Not much is happening in this chapter but I'm hoping things will liven up pretty soon so don't lose complete faith in me lol I had a bit of drouble adjusting to the new character, Kate, because even though I'm not as much of a fan of Amy, from Define Love, as I was before, I still prefer her to any of my characters just now. Kate's hopefully going to be a completely different personality, however, so things should get interesting soon. As for the character Jim, I was so pleased with him, and had so much fun writing him. I based him mainly on a pure Scottish friend of mine, who, believe it or not, has said at least five of those phrases in his short life time. I found his sense of humor and pride of Scotland admirable and thought I'd dedicate a character to him, even though he doesn't know about it lol Being Scottish myself I really only have to translate what I sometimes talk like onto paper, which wasn't that hard after a few tries, and I've been itching to insert a little bit of my Scottish heritage into my stories for a while. I hope his Glaswegian accent wasn't too hard to interpret, but if so feel free to review me and let me know, and I'll maybe post a translation lol Once again, sorry for the pretty boring start, and please read and review!! Xx**


	2. Small Talk

I sat in the conservatory, watching Lily finally let loose in the swimming pool and race all of the boys. I grinned when I saw her beat Remus to the other end of the pool.

I wrapped my towel around my shoulders and shivered against the breeze that came in through the open doors. I took a sip of the tea I made myself and sighed when the heat from it spread to my fingers and toes.

"Got bored of us already?" Sirius leaned against the doorframe and smiled down at me.

I smiled, "Now how could I ever get bored of you?"

"You know I have no idea," Sirius sniggered and sat down across from me. "So," he began, leaning back in his chair, "how were the parents this time?"

I shrugged, "Not that bad. They mostly ignored me than anything else."

"Do they know you're staying here?" Sirius asked, a smile hovering on his lips because we both knew what the answer was.

"Definitely not," I grinned. "I told them I met a very nice pureblood girl, who invited me to stay at her house for the remainder of the summer. I'm sure if mum had her way, she would have sold me to the family, see if she could make some money out of me."

Sirius just smiled at me, stroking his stubbly chin in thought. "James?" he called out the door.

"Yah?" James appeared at the door of the conservatory and grinned at us.

"Fancy a trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow?" Sirius asked him.

James shrugged, "Sure why not, I haven't got my stuff for school anyway."

"Me neither," I smiled.

"Good," Sirius grinned. "Diagon Alley it is then."

…x…X…S…X…x…

I counted to three in my head and spun on the spot, snapping my eyes shut as I squeezed through the air. I landed with a thud on the pavement outside the Leaky Cauldron, lost my balance and knocked into Sirius, who had just landed next to me.

"Sorry," I muttered. "Haven't quite got the hang of it yet."

Sirius simply smiled and helped me up.

"Is everyone here?" James asked as he took Lily's hand and counted heads.

"Looks like Peter's got lost again," Sirius sniggered, and I noticed Peter wasn't with us.

James shook his head, but continued to smile.

"He never got the hang of apparating," Remus told me with a shake of his head.

"Oh well, we'll meet up with him later," James said dismissively. "Merlin knows where he is now."

We stepped into the Leaky Cauldron and all made our way through to the back, where James tapped the specific bricks with his wand. The bricks began to replace themselves and form an arch above us.

"I need to go visit Madam Malkins," I said to no one in particular.

"Okay why don't we meet back here in half an hour?" Sirius suggested.

We all agreed and I was about to start walking when Sirius took my arm, "I need new robes as well."

"Oh, okay," I shrugged and we both headed for Madam Malkins.

I rummaged through a rack of robes while Sirius did the same in the men's robes.

"So…Kate…" Sirius began. I didn't turn round. "…Tell the truth, why didn't you get in contact when we finished school for the summer?"

I tensed up and turned to look at him, giving him a questioning look and trying my best to look innocent, "What are you talking about?"

"Well it's obvious that you were bored out of your mind the whole summer…so why wouldn't you organise something with Lily?" Sirius asked me, continuing to look through the robes and not look at me.

"I don't know what you're on about, Sirius," I forced a laugh.

"Oh come on, Kitty," Sirius turned and smiled mischievously at me.

"Kitty?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Never read Pride and Prejudice?" Sirius asked.

"Of course, but I never liked Kitty," I told him, turning back to the rack.

"Why?"

"She followed Lydia about like a lost puppy, and when Lydia left Kitty seemed to have all these little secrets, like it seemed she _knew_ that Lydia would run off with Mr Wickham," I explained, pulling out a set of robes and holding it against me.

"I don't know, I always thought she as to be sympathised by the way she was ignored by her family and was always snapped at by Lydia," Sirius said thoughtfully. "When you think about it, she's almost trapped. She finds a friend in Lydia because Lydia gives her attention. And when Lydia leaves Kitty is given the blame for it."

I shrugged, "I still don't like her. Or that name."

"That's your decision, but we're getting a bit off topic," Sirius took out a set of robes and checked the label.

"And we'll continue going off topic because I don't see the point in our original conversation," I told him, taking the robes off their hangar and heading for the changing rooms.

"Isn't any conversation better than silence?" he asked. I heard the changing room door next to me open and close and I assumed he was getting changed too.

"Isn't interesting conversation better than any conversation?" I countered, slipping the robes over my head.

"I would say our conversation is interesting, to me anyway," he replied from the other side of the door.

"Well what if I don't find this conversation interesting?" I felt a smile tug at my lips at our small talk.

"Then I shall make do with any conversation, as usual," Sirius replied.

"You do that."

"So why didn't you get in contact?"

I laughed, "Why are you so obsessed with that? I didn't get in contact because I was busy. Mum and dad kept taking me to Ministry balls and such so I barely had time for myself."

"Well that's perfectly understandable," Sirius commented. "But we both know that your parents practically ignored you the whole summer. They've never taken you to balls before, Kitty, so why would they now?"

I stepped out of the changing room just as Sirius emerged as well. I brushed down my robes and looked in the mirror. "What is your obsession with Kitty? And why do you care if I'm not telling the truth?" I frowned.

Sirius grinned from behind me, using the same mirror to see himself. "Does it matter why I'm so interested? But at least you've admitted that you're not telling the truth," he said, adjusting the collar of his robes.

I sighed, "So I didn't keep in touch as much as I usually do, and I wasn't busy, and my parents barely looked at me. I had a tough summer and I just needed to be alone."

"Thank you for telling me," Sirius replied. "Now, what happened that made it a tough summer?"

"Ben and I broke up, and then Lily and James got together," I gave in and went back to the changing room. However, Sirius wasn't finished with me.

He put his foot in the way of the door and planted his body right in the middle of the doorframe to make sure I couldn't get rid of him. "Sorry to hear about you and Ben. How long was that?" he asked carelessly.

"Two and a half years," I told him with a frown.

"Right," Sirius nodded, not really caring, as he never liked Ben in the first place. "And why would James and Lily getting together make it a tough summer?"

I shrugged and tried to close the door again. Sirius leaned against the door to stop me and his face set in a frown, "You know I'm not going to stop until you tell me."

I stared up at him through my eyelashes, not sure if I should tell him or not. "I'm a bad person for thinking it," I began, closing my eyes so I wouldn't see his look of disappointment when I told him, "…but I was jealous…I mean, Ben and I had been together for two whole years, almost three, and then out of the blue we break up. And suddenly Lily's happy instead. I just got annoyed. For a while I actually thought fate had gone against me and taken Ben away to make someone else happy. And I don't like feeling like that."

Sirius gazed down at me, probably analysing the situation and hoping I wouldn't cry. He leaned forward and said quietly, "You're not a bad person, it's okay to think that after a break up. I don't believe in fate, but if I did, then I don't think fate would go against you." He paused. "And there's no such thing as out of the blue."

"What?" I asked, confusion wrinkling my brow.

"Never mind, Kitty," Sirius waved it off and went back to his changing room. "It's about time we met with the others anyway."

…x…X…S…X…x…

"You're awfully quiet, Kate," Lily commented, as we sat in the Leaky Cauldron having lunch.

I shrugged and sipped my butterbeer.

"Did you get your robes then?" Lily asked me.

I nodded, "They aren't really my size though. I had to get a size bigger."

"Why didn't you get Madam Malkin to help you? She could have fixed them," Lily told me.

I shrugged, "I didn't want to waste much time…plus she was busy."

"Kate, guess who we bumped into?" Peter squeaked from the end of the table (James found him in a muggle shop Anne Summers, though I hoped it was Lily who had wanted to go their first).

"Who?" I looked about everyone as I ate my sandwich.

"Ben," Remus smiled at me.

"He seemed rather reluctant to shop with us actually," James told me. "Looked a bit scared really."

I thought I saw Sirius smile slightly, but shook it off as a trick of the light. "Oh right," I replied, staring at my plate so I wouldn't have to look anywhere else.

"So how are you two doing?" Remus asked conversationally, taking a drink of his butter beer.

"Yeah we haven't seen much of Ben. How long so far? Two years?" Lily asked.

"Two and a half," Sirius answered for me, making all eyes turn to him. He shrugged.

"Well, actually," I cleared my throat. "Ben and I aren't dating anymore."

"Why?"

"What?!"

"When did this happen?"

"Oh Kate!" Lily wrapped her arms around me in a hug. "When did it happen? How did it happen?"

I shrugged, though felt slightly comforted by her hug. "The beginning of summer, and…he just said it wasn't working, and that we would be better off friends."

Everyone nodded in understanding and didn't press the matter further, though I could tell all of them were itching to ask about it.

When we got home, Lily cornered me in the kitchen as we were making dinner. "Was he acting weird before the break up?" she asked.

I shrugged, "I hadn't noticed anything. It was just…so abrupt. I didn't see it coming. We were just talking about where we could go for dinner and suddenly he was breaking up with me."

Lily put an arm around me. She was silent for a moment, before covering her mouth with her hand. "I guess James and I really didn't help," she muttered. "We practically shoved it in your face when it happened."

I patted her hand pathetically, not finding the words to reply. I rested my head on her shoulder and sighed, not being able to say a word.

"Lil- oh, sorry," James stammered stupidly when he saw Lily comforting me.

"What is it James?" Lily asked kindly.

"Er…do you need any help with the dinner?" James asked.

"Oh we don't need any help," Lily said defiantly, wanting full control over the kitchen.

"No, I'm the host, I want to do something," James said firmly, a smile lingering around his mouth. "Kate, you don't have to help, I think you're more of a guest now than Lily so out you go!" James was pushing me out the back door before I had chance to protest.

Remus and Peter were sitting at the side of the pool, with their legs dipping in the water, while Sirius looked asleep on a deck chair. I took the deck chair next to him and closed my eyes against the blare of the sun.

"You're still hung up on him, aren't you?" Sirius murmured from next to me, startling me.

I turned to look at him, though there was no point because he still had his eyes closed. I shifted in my seat to face the sky and shrugged, even though I knew he couldn't see me. "Do we have to talk about this?" I asked.

"Not if you don't want to," he replied, barely moving his lips as he continued to doze.

"Well I don't," I told him, sitting up in the deck chair and wrapping my arms around my knees.

Why was Sirius so caught up in this? Since I told him about Ben it seemed all he could talk about was Ben. I rubbed my temples; why the hell did I tell him anyway?

"So…is he going back this year?" Sirius continued.

I frowned, "I thought you said we don't have to talk about this?"

"Technically we're on a different topic of conversation because it isn't very sensitive. I could make it easier to answer by asking who do you know is staying on?" Sirius replied.

"Well I don't know," I narrowed my eyes. "All of you guys, me, Lily, just about everyone."

"Is he?"

"I don't know," I glared.

"Yes you do."

"Fine! Yes! He is staying on!" I exclaimed.

Sirius peeked one eye open and scrutinised me, "Why do you always try to cover things up around me? Merlin knows I can see through just about every one of your lies."

"Because it's none of your business!" I hissed.

"Technically it is," Sirius closed his eye again, making me angrier than ever. "You're Lily's best friend, James is my best friend. So technically you're now one of my friends. I take an interest in my friends to make sure they're okay. And considering you're obviously not okay, I'm taking an interest."

"Well of course I'm not okay!" I told him, deciding not to argue about his theory on friends. "One minute we were fine and the next he's telling me he doesn't love me anymore!"

"You'll get over him in time," Sirius mumbled.

"What would you know about it?" I snapped. "You go through girlfriends like Peter goes through pumpkin pasties!"

"No need to bring Peter into this," Sirius opened his eyes, revealing the annoyance he probably felt.

"Well stop scrutinising me like I'm some sort of dog!" I told him. "You keep talking to me like I'm just some sort of weirdo who is blowing things out of proportion. You don't know everything about relationships so stop talking like you do."

"I know a thing or two more than you that's for sure," Sirius snapped.

"Oh and how did you work that one out?" I sneered.

"I know what it's like to go through hell for one person, I know how impossible it feels to get over them, and I know that Ben was never worth a glance in the first place!" Sirius told me coldly, getting up from the deck chair and storming back into the house, leaving me alone on my deck chair.


	3. Letters and Toothbrushes

**Listening To- Norah Jones, Meatloaf.**

I wasn't sure how to act for the next few days. Living in the same house as the boy certainly made it harder for me to avoid him. I didn't like being around him after our conversation in the back garden. The way he seemed to see right through me made me feel naked in my presence. I didn't like it.

I was curled up on my bed in the afternoon, reading a book to take my mind off things, when my owl flew in through the open window and landed on the bottom of the bed.

"Hello Kermit," I smiled at my owl. I took the letter from his beak and fed him a bit of chocolate from the bar I was eating; he always did have a thing for chocolate.

He chirped in thanks before taking flight out the window again. I flipped the letter open and frowned when I recognised the handwriting on the front.

With shaking hands, I carefully opened the letter, as though it might crumble into a thousands pieces. I faintly heard Lily calling me from downstairs, but I barely noticed.

_Kate,_

_I know we haven't talked since the break-up, the fault falls on my part and I'm sorry. You're probably wondering why I have written to you, but after my meeting with your friends in Diagon Alley, and the things they saw, I believed it better to tell you myself, rather than you hearing it from them. _

_As you may have guessed, the reason for my abrupt explanation for our break-up was of course because I had met someone else. I knew how you would take the news and so I told a little white lie to protect you. Her name is Kimberly, and she's very nice. I'm sure you would like her. _

_Once again, I'm sorry for never telling the utmost truth, but I was thinking of you. _

_Yours truly,_

_Ben_

I blinked away tears as I reread the letter. I crumpled it with shaking hands as the floodgates open and I hid my damp face in my pillow.

"Kate?" Lily knocked on my door.

"Not now, Lily," I croaked from my pillow.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concern sewn into her voice.

"I'm fine just…just, go away!" I failed to stifle a sob.

I heard hushed voices behind the door before it clicked open and I felt the bed shift as Lily took her seat next to my arm. "Kate…what happened?" she asked quietly.

I sat up roughly, the crumpled letter still cemented to my hand. I glared at her through my tears, "You! That's what happened! How could you not tell me?"

Lily opened her mouth to say something, her brow furrowed and she tried to play dumb, "What are you talking about?"

I chucked the balled up letter at her. She winced when it hit her cheek but didn't say anything. Slowly and as quietly as possible, she opened the letter and scanned through it.

Years past until she looked up at me, her emerald eyes quivering in either fear or sadness, I didn't know. "I'm sorry, Kate," she whispered. "We did meet him, as Remus told you. But he had Kimberly with him. He begged us not to tell you, but James was set on telling you at lunch. Remus being Remus, he had always trusted Ben, so he told him we wouldn't say a word as long as he told you himself. Even though James agreed to this, he was a bit distraught that you never told me. Being James he stood up for me and said he would get you to confess, rather than simply spitting out that he knew about the break-up."

"So you all cornered me?" I croaked, bitterness evident in my voice. "You cornered me into saying what I was not ready to say when it was never any of your business!"

"You know what James is like!" Lily began, her voice pleading with me for me to hear her. "He wanted to make sure you were going to tell us!"

"Then why not wait?" I demanded, my temper beginning to bubble threateningly. "Why not wait until I was ready?"

"Well…James isn't really a waiting kinda person…" Lily replied pathetically, and I saw the hint of a smile creep onto her face.

I wiped my tears away impatiently with the back of my hand, sighing pathetically. I found myself almost whining as the tears continued to flow and Lily wrapped her arms around me. "He said I would like her," I sobbed onto Lily's shoulder, not really caring that I was soaking her t-shirt.

I heard the door click open again and a very uncomfortable Peter stuttered: "Dinner's out."

Lily let go of me, "Thanks Peter."

He nodded stupidly and scurried out the room, not wanting to be in the company of a crying girl any longer.

I wiped my eyes, "So you finally gave up the kitchen?"

Lily smiled, "James insisted."

"Ah," I felt a smile creep onto my face. "He's a good one, Lil."

"I know," Lily grinned.

…x…X…S…X…x…

Clutching my toothbrush in my fist, I scurried down the dark hallway to the bathroom. The wooden floor was cold under my bare feet, which only made me scurry faster. Sighing with relief that no one caught me running to the bathroom at three in the morning to brush my teeth, I closed the door quietly and got out the toothpaste.

"What are you doing up?"

I yelped and dropped the toothpaste when I found Sirius sitting on the floor next to the shower, almost hidden.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered, picking up the toothpaste and continuing to squeeze it onto my toothbrush.

Sirius rubbed his face wearily, but remained seated. "I couldn't sleep."

"So you thought sitting on the bathroom floor would help?" I smiled.

Sirius glared up at me, "No. It was too hot in my room, and the bathroom is always freezing at night, so I just came here to…cool down."

I shrugged and began brushing my teeth, counting up to thirty for every side of my teeth. After doing all of my teeth at least once, I rinsed and spat, and then did the whole process again.

"You're obsessed, you know that?" Sirius sniggered from beside me.

I spat and rinsed out my mouth, "Am not."

"You got up at three in the morning to brush your teeth," Sirius told me matter-of-factly, as if I didn't know what I was doing.

I glared, "Okay so I have a thing about brushing my teeth. I forgot to do them before I went to bed and I couldn't sleep for thinking about it."

Sirius laughed, making me frown.

I turned the tap off and threw the toothpaste back in the cupboard. "I suppose you knew about Kimberly too?" I asked, with a little more bitterness than I intended.

"James told me when we got back from Diagon Alley," Sirius shrugged.

I dropped my toothbrush into the sink and slid down against the door, so we were both in the same position facing each other. "Why is it that my life seemed to fall apart the second fate saw I was happy?" I asked nobody in particular.

Sirius smiled at me from across the floor. I tilted my head as I watched him smile at me. I had always wondered what was behind that smile. It was a strange smile, the kind that suggested mischievousness as well as kindness. It was squinted slightly, but that didn't stop the smile reaching his eyes.

"I don't see why you always see things in a bad light," Sirius said, still holding that squinted smile.

I snorted, "What part of being dumped for another girl is good?"

"Well, James said Kimberly giggled a lot," Sirius smiled. I raised an eyebrow. "And I mean, a lot."

I smiled despite myself.

"And maybe fate never went against you," he continued, picking at a loose thread on his white shirt. "Maybe she saw that Ben wasn't being faithful and helped you on your way to finding the right guy."

I sighed pathetically and rested my head on the door behind me. "But Ben was the right guy," I whispered, feeling my voice shake a little.

"The right guy doesn't cheat, Kitty," Sirius told me softly.

I looked up through my eyelashes at Sirius, to find him looking back at me, that smile etched across his face, and his grey eyes sparkling, as if he knew something I didn't and was laughing inside about it. I tilted my head as I looked at him, and felt a smile sneak onto my face as well. And I liked it.

…x…X…S…X…x…

"Can you pass the orange juice please, Lily?" I asked as we sat around the breakfast table.

I poured the juice into my mug and continued eating, feeling every eye on me and deciding to ignore it.

"James, have you heard from your parents?" Lily asked, noticing too that everybody was waiting for me to shout at them over the whole Kimberly thing.

James nodded and swallowed the bacon he was eating, "It was just a quick letter, it didn't say whom it was from but I know they were just taking precautions. They said they won't be back on time to see us at King's Cross. So we'll have to get the Knight Bus there."

"That's no problem," Sirius told James. "It's been a while since I saw Jim."

"I've never met him," Lily said as she impaled some bacon onto her fork.

"It's Sunday we're leaving, isn't it?" I spoke up, making all heads turn again.

James nodded, his mouth full of pancakes and tomato sauce splattered on his chin. "Only two days left of fun!" he grinned excitedly after swallowing his food.

Lily raised an eyebrow, but couldn't hold back a smile at James' childishness. "So what are we doing today?" she asked.

I slouched in my seat and wrinkled my nose; "I don't really feel like doing anything today."

My eyes flickered up the table to find Sirius looking back at me, something bordering understanding hovering in his eyes, and I barely noticed all the eyes watching me in anticipation. Sirius smiled at me, making me quickly avert my eyes to my food. I looked up again a few seconds later to find Lily smiling at me, her eyes twinkling with gossip.

"What's going on between you and Sirius?" Lily asked me quietly as we got ready to go out for dinner.

"Nothing," I shrugged. "He's just...there."

Lily laughed, "Don't lie to me, Kate. It isn't just Sirius who can see through your porky-pies."

"Seems everyone these days can tell when I'm lying," I rolled my eyes.

"Well what is going on with you two?" Lily sniggered. "Every time I looked during breakfast you two were looking at each other, and half the time you were blushing!"

I frowned, "I wasn't."

"Yes you were," Lily nudged me playfully. "Somebody has a crush."

"Look I don't like Sirius," I said firmly. "We bumped into each other during the night because we both couldn't sleep and this morning we were…simply remembering a joke we made last night. That's all," I lied.

"You are so bad at lying," Lily teased, walking out the room and leaving me on my own.

**A/N-Sorry for the long wait and sorry for the crappy shortness of this chapter but I hit writer's block and I'm still getting to grips again lol And Kate's owl was one of my favourite parts! Kermit is my all time favourite character, apart from Beaker of course...cos he rocks too ... Read and Review!**

**Xx**


	4. A Questionable Afternoon

On the final day of holidays, with all our school things purchased and every activity experienced, we found ourselves quite bored.

"What if we go ice skating?" James asked, stirring his porridge in boredom.

"I can't skate," Lily blushed.

I grinned.

"Shopping?" Lily suggested instead.

"I suppose we could go muggle shopping," Remus said thoughtfully. "I'd like to buy some new novels."

I shrugged, "I think I'll just stay here. Maybe tidy up a bit."

James raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"You sure?" Lily asked worriedly. "I don't want to leave you here on your own."

I rolled my eyes but smiled nonetheless. "I'll be fine," I patted her hand mockingly.

"I can't be bothered doing anything today either," Sirius yawned, stretching out of his chair as though he had an engorgement charm cast upon him.

James continued to raise both eyebrows at Sirius, glancing determinedly at Remus. I frowned.

"Well then, that's settled," Remus smiled, ignoring James and standing up, continuing to clear away his plates. "We'll head in the next hour, the muggle shops will be pretty busy by now."

So I cleared away my dishes and headed upstairs for a shower, hoping I wouldn't run into Sirius too much that afternoon.

I waved goodbye to Lily through the bathroom window, grinning as I held the towel tightly around my still dripping body. I slipped out of the bathroom and tip toed across the hall to my room, though not fast enough.

"About time you came out of there; I need the loo!" Sirius exclaimed, charging out his room and ramming right into me.

"Son of a-" I muttered as I was catapulted backwards. I threw my hands out to cushion my fall, but found, to my dismay, that my towel needed as much attention.

I sat on my bum, my towel continuing to slip down my chest so much so that I instinctively slammed my hands over my chest, just on time.

Sirius stared. He just, stared.

"Umm," I felt my face flush to the point of a volcano eruption and attempted to manoeuvre myself up onto my feet without showing off any more body parts, but found it impossible.

Sirius roughly shook his head and wordlessly leaned down to help me up. "Close your eyes," I ordered, feeling my embarrassment turn a little icier. He did so and I managed to scamper to my feet and secure the towel back around my chest, feeling my dignity was lost forever.

"You can look," I told him, sniffing dismissively and turning for my room.

"Sorry?" he said, rather bitterly. I frowned, but didn't turn round. Instead, I slammed my door and locked it.

I decided I could do with a jog. So I collected my running shoes and tracksuit and headed for the open road.

Of course considering my terrible diet of chocolate and ice cream every day for the past three years, my chest was heaving and I had to pause for my lungs to catch up after 2 minutes of slight jogging. Once I got to the end of the lane, I marched all the way back to the house, cursing jogging to the end of the earth. My muscles were aching and I was in need of yet another shower.

I collapsed into the kitchen and snatched the chocolate ice cream from my fridge, beaming into its glorious depths.

"What was the point in going jogging if you're going to pig out when you get back?" Sirius walked into the room and sat across from me at the table. He pulled from his back pocket a Quidditch magazine and buried his face in it.

"What's the point in buying magazines when you can't read?" I murmured quietly into my ice cream.

Sirius snapped up to look at me, his face looking as though I might as well have smacked his nose with a rolled up newspaper. "I can read!" he retorted, glaring at me.

"Well I can pig out when I like!" I stuck my tongue out, the chocolate ice cream making me considerably cheerful.

Sirius let out a muffled huff and continued to read, and a, dare I say it, comfortable silence drew out as I reached the half mark in my tub. But as my tummy began to ache in parts, which I never knew could, I popped the lid back on the tub and glanced around the room restlessly.

After a few moments of agony, I finally broke the silence. "Who was it?" I asked, distracting myself from my own question by heading for the kitchen to return the ice cream.

"Who was what?" Sirius asked absent-mindedly from behind his magazine.

I dropped back onto my chair and crossed my arms. Surely he knew what I was talking about?

He peeked over his magazine when I made no reply, raising an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Well who was it?" I demanded, dropping my arms and sitting up, not entirely sure why I was even pursuing this topic; I didn't even want to know.

"Who was what?" he said slowly, lowering his magazine and eyeing me.

"Never mind," I huffed.

He sighed and put away his magazine. "No, no, out with it. Who was what?" he stared at me, a smirk decorating his lips.

I pursed my lips. "I was just wondering who the girl was. You said the other day, oh never mind," I rolled my eyes.

Sirius frowned. "Why do you ask?"

My shoulder shrugged pathetically as I found no answer.

"Then I'll pretend you didn't," Sirius told me smugly.

I narrowed my eyes. "Fine," I said coolly, deciding to ignore his presence.

I refused to look at him.

Maybe the odd glance, just one? I cursed under my breath and returned to staring at the chair fabric; the stupid git saw me looking. I glanced surreptitiously once more and found him sniggering. I cleared my throat and looked away.

"So," he whistled through his teeth, "heard from Ben recently?"

I raised an eyebrow, trying to act cool. But why was he bringing up Ben? "Why would I hear from him?" I asked casually.

He shrugged. "Apparently he's moving in with her," he said quietly, flicking his magazine tastefully and ignoring my reaction.

Stay calm, that's right. Niiiice and calm. Breathe.

I lowered my eyes to my lap, subconsciously fiddling with a loose string on my top. "That's lovely," I said, my own voice sounding so foreign to me.

He threw a glance and I was unsure as to what it held; pity? Surely he knew that's hardly what I needed at the moment.

"How long was that?" he continued, his eyes returned to his magazine and his voice breezy. "A few months?"

I shrugged, feeling my fingers shake the thread out of their grasp. "Umm, what should we have for lunch?" I attempted a new topic, Merlin knew this one was dangerous territory.

"And you were there for two and half years?" he pressed, his eyes staring me down over his magazine. I glared. "Someone rushes into things."

"Someone can't take a hint," I said hurriedly, not knowing how much longer I could hold back the tears.

"Someone needs to face up to situations," he countered calmly.

"It's none of your business!" I snapped.

"I recognise this conversation," he commented, turning a page of his magazine idly.

Gracious! My eyes were watering! Hold up! Time to exit. "Look I don't have to explain myself to you," I told him, suddenly exhausted. "I'm going for a nap."

And so I stumbled out of the room, hoping I looked as dignified as I was pretending, though I guessed that I wasn't very successful.

"You shouldn't run from everything," he called after me, and so suddenly I wondered where it came from; I snapped.

"Says Mr Hypocrite, who ran from his own home in the middle of the night to live here," I snapped, feeling my voice crack.

A part of me wanted to run for cover before he blew, but the other half wanted to see if my cold words had had any affect on the git. So I turned, and found him centimetres from me, his spicy aroma surrounding me until I felt ambushed. I felt cold, but somehow warm at the same time. The mere combination sent my head swirling and I closed my eyes to stop the dizziness.

"Stop pretending to be little miss perfect, Kate," he told me quietly, the anger twisting and turning its way out of his calm words to choke me. "For once, you've gotten what you deserved, and you shouldn't blame it on me."

I glared at him through my eyelashes, feeling my eyes finally begin to leak. Though I couldn't blink; if I blinked I would let the damn break. I couldn't break in front of _him_.

He gazed down at me, and somehow his anger abated, the defensiveness flowing out of his features like a gentle river down a mountain, and he was twirling my hair round his finger. I felt my throat twist and a sob escaped my lips, and I could no longer hold it off. As tears slid down my cheeks I stepped away from the stupid boy who had caused them, and I ran for my room.

**A/N - AAaaaaand that's chapter four! Likie? Not Likie? Please review!**


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